Saturday Buffet Guests

Posted on February 17, 2013 by artsifrtsy

I’ve spent the weekend nursing my second case of the flu since the holidays. So much for getting a flu shot – apparently mine didn’t take. I spent most of my time sleeping, but have worried that the bird feeders were empty. I drug my butt out of bed a little after noon yesterday and got everything filled just in time for a nap. After a short snooze I noticed that there was a lot of activity at the buffet so I bundled up, grabbed my camera, and took a seat inside the mud porch. I spent about 30 minutes shooting and decided it was time for another nap.

Later that evening I downloaded the shots – I have been setting up an Instagram account so I used a grid to compile shots rather than uploading a few dozen to my feed. If you’re on Instagram and would like to check out my gallery you can find me at @theeffstop

Since I was so worn out I decided to just use the grid images today to give you a view to the kinds of visitors I am seeing at the buffet in mid-February.

Titmice

Of course there are always plenty of titmice at the buffet, but I am seeing them become bolder and bolder. The sky shots were taken at about 4-5 feet away. These birds light even as I am filling the feeders. They have very little fear of me unless I move quickly.

White-breasted Nuthhatches

These birds are becoming less afraid of me as the weather grows colder as well. They are not quite as bold as the titmice, but I have had one sit on the top of the suet log as I finish filling it for them. They make more eye contact than any other guests.

Red-bellied Woodpeckers

I think these are my favorite birds at the feeder. They have such a sweet disposition and a yearning call, I can tell they are nearby even from inside the house at this point. They are pretty easily frightened, but they keep coming back. These shots are of the male and female pair that dined with me yesterday, they come separately, but stay close by each other. While one feeds the other paces in the walnut tree above the buffet.

Northern Cardinal

I tried something new for the last couple of weeks, I put out a single plate of food on the top of a 6 foot ladder. The titmice love it, but so do the male cardinals. They don’t like to perch to feed, but they are also very skittish when they feed on the ground. This guy stayed at his perch for about 20 minutes, and then returned over and over. Who knew that cardinals just wanted a private table with a view, I guess they really are snobs after all.

Downy Woodpeckers

The downies are getting pretty bold as well, they will feed even if I am sitting on the swing just a few feet away. They are pretty vigilant and take a look around between bites – it’s not at all uncommon for them to stare at you and then turn back to the food having determined that you are not much of a threat.

I am noticing a few new guests at the buffet. As it gets colder up north, we have more guests who are either wintering with us, or on their way to more temperate southern climes.

Red-breasted Nuthatch

These guys have been at the buffet for about the last 3 weeks and seem to be pretty tame, like their southern cousins. They are shorter and have a flatter head with more prominent striping. The first time I saw one I thought it was just an odd looking native hatch, but some checking on my birding app made it clear that he is a winter visitor from Canada. Go ahead and chow down my friend, this is an all-you-can-eat joint.

Pine Warbler

This guy should not be here at all this time of year, but perhaps our mild winter has made him stop for an extended visit. I have seen a female and confess that I thought she was just another goldfinch, at this time of year I think the beak is the only giveaway between the two.

I also hosted goldfinches, chickadees, and juncos yesterday, but they were unwilling to sign photo releases. I love seeing the changing clientele, i have lived here over a decade and had no idea that all of this was in my woods all along. I’m thrilled to have them as my guests anytime they choose to pop by.

Oh Deer!

Posted on February 15, 2013 by artsifrtsy

I have been especially technically challenged this week. I attempted to reblog this post from my memoir project, The King of Isabelle Avenue. I posted it and noticed that shortly afterward the reader just showed a very blurry photo of my Gravitar. So I deleted it and tried to reblog, and of course, you cannot do that.

So I if you’re curious about our mining adventures in Nevada in the 60s, click the link above – this excerpt has lots of silliness, and adventure, and some poop…

If you are not at all curious or have already read about the poop, you can just stay here and look at the deer I saw on the way home from the fish hatchery the other day…

If you’ve seen enough deer or hate to click links, feel free to stop reading now and go back to whatever you were doing. I think I’m gonna grab a snack.

The Suet Thief

Posted on February 12, 2013 by artsifrtsy

This is Squeegee…

I don’t see a camera, therefore no camera exists…

She hates to be photographed. She lives in a constant state of denial. If she does not like something she simply turns her back and the issue no longer exists. She has ignored the very existence of Velcro for about seven years. She’s a snob.

You see, my pack is made up of rejects. Velcro was an older dog when I adopted her. Kirby had shyness issues so the breeder wanted to “place” him with someone who understood terriers. Sunshine is a goldendoodle who was abandoned by his owners along with his litter mates at about 6 weeks. It’s a pretty motley crew except for Squeegee.

Squeegee is a princess. My Pop came for a visit several years ago and fell in love with the young terrier pup I had at the time. He wanted one and they were very expensive where he lived in Vegas, but here in the Ozarks Jack Russell Terriers are hunting dogs, ratters, work dogs. A pedigreed dog can be had for less than a couple hundred dollars – a third of the price in Vegas at the time. So I looked up a couple of breeders and we took a road trip to Jay, Oklahoma to look at some pups. The breeder had 2 available and one was just odd-looking – short nose, barrel chest, wide face – the other was perfectly square, a really beautiful terrier. That dog was Squeegee. Pops asked me which one I thought was the best pick and I told him to get the little square girl – she was perfect. He told me to go get the back of the car ready, he was going to haggle with the breeder over a price. Soon he walked out with both pups in hand – I guess he worked a two-fer deal. Squeegee has been the princess at my place ever since.

A side note – spending your vacation housebreaking three puppies is not very relaxing.

Since the housebreaking phase Squeegee has not been much of a problem except for her disdain of Velcro. She’s a happy dog who barks at deer and chases squirrels. She isn’t much of a hunter, but she does make a lot of noise. She’s the most demanding of my pack and vocalizes a lot to get you to pay attention to her. She rarely gets into things like the trash or messes up anything in the house, so it surprised me to find out that she was a thief.

She hangs out on the patio when I fill the bird feeders and now I know why…

Is that suet on the fence post?

If I just stretch a bit I think I can reach it.

It is suet! If I stretch I think I can get it all before anyone notices…

I don’t think she’s noticed me – there’s a big black and silver thing in front of her face…

If I can just get around this tree trunk and fake lizard on three legs, I think I can get it all before I’m caught…

Around the tree, on the ledge, under the limb – got it!

What suet? I don’t see any suet. I’m just hanging out here on this fence post minding my own business.

She may look innocent, but if you are missing suet you know who’s behind it.

Water Colors

Posted on February 11, 2013 by artsifrtsy

Today I took a trip to Roaring River State Park, it’s a beautiful park adjoining the Mark Twain National Forest. Roaring River is fed by the spring pictured above. It’s one of the largest in Missouri. Ordinarily February is not the time to go to the fishery, but today was gorgeous. The play of sunshine on the water was magical.

These rusty links caught my eye. They were in the large pond and I wonder if they were meant to secure rafts or boats at one time. This whole facility was built by the CCC and much of the stone and cement works around the ponds have the feel from that era.

The spring empties in to a large holding pond and is then directed through about a dozen smaller holding ponds where rainbow trout are sorted by size.

This trout was inside the spring – as the water flowed out from the overhang it had a haunting blue color. I looked at this shot on my LED screen and noted how much it looked like a watercolor painting. Seeing this I tried to focus either on the fish through the water or just below the surface to see if I could make something of this effect in the holding ponds.

I loved the curves in this shot. Someone had just tossed some feed in the water just outside my frame and the fish seemed to turn as a single mass.

This is a holding pond for mid-sized trout. The scene turns a dark grey where the trout are several layers thick. The mass of fish block out the golden color of the bottom of the pond.

These are called parent fish. They are in a smaller round tank and are the source of all the other trout in the tanks. Some of these are larger than a good sized salmon. The orange in this shot is the reflection of my orange hoody on the surface if the water.

This is one of the parent fish all alone. I rarely got a shot at a single fish like this. This shows the color of the bottoms of the ponds, the warm gold color creates reflected light in many of the shots. This was my favorite shot of the day.

Occasionally I would get a shot though some smooth water and be able to get a tight focus on some trout. This shot reminds me of a traffic jam on the freeway.

The fish in this pond seemed to have a copper color when the sun hot them. It could have just been the angle of the sunlight at this spot.

I like how the ripples follow the line of the lower fish, he looks a bit like a dirigible.

The still water gave me lots of focus options in this shot.

This was a massive trout. He was in the pond that they release into the river.

More copper reflections. I love the painterly feel of this one.

Everyone, take a right!

Some of the parent trout had flat noses like this one.

This is the water flows down from one pond to another. It’s the same water that connects the spring, the ponds, and the river – the same water that captures the sunlight and plays visual music with it as it bounces just below its surface. It’s the same water that magnifies and reflects the colors of the fish, the the sky, and even my hoody.

Color in the water – water colors.

The Snake Dog and the Great Flood

Posted on February 3, 2013 by artsifrtsy

Yesterday was a productive one. The sun came out and I had daylight hours to tackle the great basement flood. The warm sunshine warmed my mood. There was much to be optimistic about, first and most importantly, my cellar was filled with rainwater, not sewage. I had the loan of a couple of different types of sump pumps, I had some cute rain boots from Eddie Bauer that I got for Christmas, and I had a friend coming by to help in a few hours. Things were looking up.These boots made my smile, I felt like the Morton Salt girl on a sunny day with a sump pump. It’s amazing to see how much the clover is greening up already. As I watched the water flow I thought about the view back to the house. I ran inside to get my fisheye lens. I noticed that I had someone watching me.Kirby doesn’t usually like to be photographed, he typically sees a camera and hides on the other side of the house. But something about the sump pump process intrigued him. Perhaps it was that I had a giant blue snake running across the lawn.Kirby is the boss of the yard, and it’s his job to keep everyone safe from snakes. Since we live in the woods we get a few that invade the lawn in late summer and Kirby dispatches them all. The first summer he lived here he was bitten on the tongue by a copperhead and it was scary. Copperheads are not typically lethal, but a swollen tongue could compromise his airway. You would think that this would have put the fear of snakes into the boy, but no dice.Since that first encounter, Kirby has taken charge of the snake population on the mountain. Over the years he has been bitten about 10 times. I keep Benadryl and baby aspirin on hand as well as some antibiotics the vet gave me. One time I heard Kirby’s distinctive “snake bark” and headed outside it make sure he was ok. He had copperhead about 4 feet long in his mouth and was running laps around the lawn, he was letting all the other snakes in the woods know who was boss. I worried that he may have been bitten so I managed to lure him over with cheese laced with Benadryl. He snapped it up and went back to the dead reptile and continued his laps. After 10 minutes he fell asleep. I disposed of his trophy and took him into the house.I discovered that he had not been bitten, that was two summers ago and he has not been bitten since then either. Last year he dispatched at least 10 snakes that I know of. He’s a beast.He’s also a slob. I think he’s like the character Pig Pen from Peanuts. He can come home from the groomer looking all white and fluffy, a silky joy to pet. Within minutes he will have rolled in the leaves or pine tar or something slimy and he is as much fun to pet as a tumble weed.Still, he makes me feel safe, what other 15 pound being can do that. I know he has it handled. He would never let a snake get anywhere near me. The other dogs know he will handle the situation. He is the Snake Killer, he is Kirby.

You cannot deny his majesty. He is the king of all he surveys – within the confines of the radio fence. I was glad he was standing by yesterday to keep me safe from that big blue snake.

January on Film – Roll #1 – 1936 Rolleiflex Standard

Posted on February 3, 2013 by artsifrtsy

Every year I give myself a photo challenge. I have been collecting vintage cameras for years. If you want to read about my photographic roots you can check out this post. This year I decided to shoot some of these old cameras. Every month I will shoot at least one roll of film. The idea is that if I can go completely manual and get the most out of one of my vintage cameras, I should get better at getting more out of all the digital bells and whistles on my Olympus OMD.

In January I shot this 1936 Rolleiflex Standard. It’s the first model of Rollei’s beloved TLRs. This one has no light meter, no flash attachment, and it’s missing some screws that hold on the frame around the prism.

This camera is substantial in your hands. That texture on the sides is actually leather.

Even though it looks like it has done a lot of living, the shutter snaps cleanly and I hoped that it would still be functional. I should have looked for a YouTube video about loading the film, but decided that since it had only been 30 years since I had seen one that I could do it just fine. I loaded it correctly, but didn’t advance it far enough so I had some shots that were misaligned. So instead of 12 shots I got 5. The good news is – now I know how to load this baby.

To shoot a Rollei you look down through a prism. This camera is pretty neat because it has a level, and a small glass that flips out to assist in focusing. You hold the camera at waist level and look down into the hood – here’s an image of what you see…

Looking through the prism you see everything in reverse. This is the 1930's version of an LCD screen.

Looking through the prism you see everything in reverse. This is the 1930’s version of a LCD screen.

You are looking through the top lens of the face of the camera – it is matched to the lower lens, the “taking” lens. This is the lens with the shutter.

One of the things I missed most was Live View. On a digital camera I get to see what the effect of changing the aperture or shutter speed will be. On the Rollei you just have to make your best guess. I quit shooting film in the mid 90’s so this is a challenge.

Here are the shots from the first roll of the year. I shot black & white film – 400 speed (remember having to choose the speed of your film before you knew what you would be shooting?). I shot these mostly with the aperture wide open to see what kind of DOF I could get out of the taking lens. The taking lens is a Tessar 3.5 75mm.

The wheel of a hay rake with my house in the morning.

The wheel of a hay rake with my house in the background. Aperture wide open at 3.5

Looking through the coils on the hay rake. Aperture wide open to 3.5

I shot this with the aperture closed down for more detail.

I shot this because I have seen photos of my house taken in the 20s with dogs on this side. It’s surreal seeing a modern vehicle in a photo like this.

This is the bird buffet. The aperture was closed down to see if I could keep the detail in the trees as well as the pergola and feeders.

The seat of the hay rake. I shot this wide open – I had two shots of the seat, one closer than this. The closer shot lost the detail in the shadow. Having the aperture wide open made the DOF so shallow that a close shot was impractical.

Overall, I’m pretty happy. Knowing I only had 12 exposures made me take my best shot and move on. I only took 2 shots of the same spot. I had hoped to catch a bird in frame when I shot the feeders – It could take several rolls to make a capture like that on the Rollei. Focusing was tough with the prism so far from your eye – I am used to using the viewfinder so this took some getting used to.

Still, I LOVED shooting it. Even though it was a bit larger than the size of a pint of half and, it felt “right” in my hands. I like that you could get the sense of it being a sunny day, even with black & white film. I would like to find a Rollei from the 50s with a few more features, but considering that I was sold this one as a “display” camera, I am very happy with it – happy enough that I bought 4 rolls of color film.

Next month – Olympus OM 35mm.

Frozen Dinner

Posted on January 31, 2013 by artsifrtsy

I’ve had a miserable week.

Monday morning started with a flat tire on the Jeep. From the time I texted work to let them know I would be late, I have felt like I have been chasing my schedule to catch up.

Tuesday the temps dropped 40 degrees and we got a couple of inches of much needed rain. I met a friend for dinner and we marveled that the storm could seem so intense. I arrived home to find a foot of water in my cellar. I turned off the breaker for the outlets down there and used a broom handle to unplug the dehumidifier that was now under water just in case.

Wednesday I scrambled to find a plumber to root out the cellar drain. It took me all day to find someone who would return my call. I met him at my house and he took one look at the cellar and said he could not work from inside the house with standing. I showed him the end of the drain in the woods some 200 feet from the house. It was brutally cold outside – the windchill was about 12 degrees, but soon my problems would be over…or so I thought. After 45 minutes the plumber called me outside. There would be no opening the drain, the drain was collapsed about 100 feet up the line.

As he put together a list and a schedule that would include a backhoe and about a mile of pipe I started to zone. When I check out like this, the best thing I can do is shoot. It was a cold grey soggy day, no color to be seen. I spotted my platter feeders. They were completely iced over. As I shot I consciously decided to not focus on the birdseed below the surface, I focused on the ice.

I was surprised by the depth…

The seeds below the surface seemed to be saturated in color…

The ice almost magnifies the seeds below…

How hungry would a cardinal need to be to try to get at these…

I’ve been filling a chipped mosaic birdbath with food, I like the color for photographs…

But now it takes on a more painterly look…

The mix of colors taking me to a warmer place.

The plumber came over and gave me a puzzled look and then dove into the details. There would be no draining the basement. I called a friend with a shop-vac and we hauled about 150 gallons up the stairs five gallons at a time. The water level dropped an inch. We gave up and called it a night.

Today I looked for a sump pump and finally found one late this afternoon. After work I put on my new rain boots and headed down into the cellar/wading pool. I got everything set up and discovered that all my garden hoses are frozen solid, just like the birdseed in those feeders.

Tomorrow at lunch I will buy an unfrozen hose and this week will finally come to a close. Once I empty the cellar I will take an ice pic to my bird feeders.

If this goes on another day perhaps I will open an underground ice skating rink.

Lucky Shot

Posted on January 19, 2013 by artsifrtsy

I know I’m starting to sound like a broken record. I’m a huge advocate of taking your camera with you…everywhere.

I drag mine through airports, take it on business trips, pack it into work everyday, and throw it in the jeep when I head to the grocery store. You just never know when you might get lucky and get a shot that teaches you something that you never knew.

You might learn that…

…There’s something hiding in the tall grass…

…Marmots have buck teeth…

…Some chickens can bend metal with just the power of their minds…

…Prairie dogs love to play tiny green harmonicas…

…African parrots not only copy voices, they do movie impressions too – this Linda Blair from the Exorcist…

…Woodpeckers have really long tongues…

…Hummingbird tongues are even longer…

…Squirrels like to sit on tiny benches…

…Canaries can be wistful…

…Deer can be kind if vain…

…Titmice like to hang out…

…Someone is watching you…

…Chickadees can be intimidating…

It’s great to tell stories about the wonderful things you see every day, but a picture says so much better!

Frosty Gaze

Posted on January 14, 2013 by artsifrtsy

This morning’s frost caught my eye, so while waiting for my Jeep to warm up enough to defrost the windshield I decided to get out my camera. My Leica macro lens was calling to me. Since I’m surrounded by woods, I made my way down my drive to the road – it was a little like driving in braille. The sunlight at the road made it all worth the risk.

I found the frost to be filled with images that were almost familiar…

Curved Tracings

The payoff, sunrise out my driver's side window.

Driver’s Side Sunrise

Blue Sky

Frosty Feathers

The bulk of my windshield looked just like lace

Lace Curtains

Blue Star

Sunrise Dragon

Pine Boughs in the Morning Light

A Heart of Glass

This is exactly why I take my camera everywhere I go – you never know what wonders you will encounter doing the most mundane things like warming up the car.

Chilly Day at the Buffet

Posted on January 13, 2013 by artsifrtsy

Yesterday I arrived home from a business trip. I was a cold and dreary day. When I got home I loved on my pups, refilled the bird feeders, and read the mail from the last few days. I built a fire and settled in for a cozy afternoon watching movies with a lap full of happy dogs.

I have a crepe myrtle right next to the house and I can see a glimpse of it through a window right next to the TV. I was distracted from my movie by moving branches and a flash of red…

I don’t typically shoot through a window, but he was so stinking close, I had to give it a shot. I was less than six feet away. I had to focus manually because of the branches in front of him. He looked over and spotted me in the living room and took off.

I decided to gear up and give the feeder a shot. Overcast skies make for nice detail with no glare. It was only 25 degrees so I put on some long johns and Carharts and took my place on the mud porch and waited to see who might show up.

I was delighted to capture a bird fight dominated by a tough little fellow, you can read about him by clicking goldfinch. Happily, there were many more visitors to the buffet, most of them with better manners than a goldfinch.

The female red-bellied woodpecker came by for lunch when the light was absolutely perfect.

Despite the rowdy behavior of one male goldfinch, most of the boys were well behaved at their fillet feeder on the buffet line.

The male downy woodpecker stopped by for a bite. These guys are always just a bit overdressed for brunch.

The buffet has been honored to welcome some winter visitors!
Dark Headed Juncos – they mostly eat off the floor, but occasionally they show up on the mezzanine.

And although I wish he would have sat for a better shot, this White Throated Sparrow has been foraging in the lower levels with the other newcomers. He seems to be alone so far, his peeps seem to be a bit late for their reservation at the buffet – rest assured we will hold their table.

I was inspired to check in with my guests at the buffet because of the appearance of one of my snobbier and more elusive guests. It turns out he was not alone – he had friends looking over the joint. From top…